Today is Easter in North Carolina, so Happy Easter for those who celebrate this day! Of course, the Jewish holiday of Passover has just occurred, so a belated Happy Passover to those readers. And it wasn't too long ago that the Pagan holiday of Ostara took place, so good thoughts towards any of you who might be Wiccan or other variations of Paganism. And there are probably some Spring celebrations in Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism that I just don't know about; if so, happy thoughts in your direction as well.
I'm sure that it is no coincidence that so many of these religious celebrations take place in Spring. You don't have to follow any religious practice at all to be uplifted and inspired by the rebirth that takes place in Nature at this time of the year. I'm noting that even though our past winter was so mild that it seems like turning into Spring wouldn't be that big of a deal, but the flowers and such seem even more intense this year, as if knowing they had to put on an extra special show in order to show off the contrast between the seasons in a year of temperate temperatures.
There are two non-religious Spring-related occasions that we particularly celebrate in our household, or at least we have for the past few years. One is the opening of our local Farmers' Market in Cary. While we do have access to fresh vegetables all year round at other Farmers' Markets in the area, the Cary market is shut down from December through March. So by the time the first Saturday in April rolls around, I can't wait to see all my farmer friends and start buying fresh, local produce again directly from the producers. And this year was extra special because, after a hiatus of a couple of years, the Cary Farmers' Market has once again move to downtown Cary, and is in even closer walking distance from my house than it was previously! That means a lot to me in my ongoing efforts to reduce our family's carbon footprint.
Another event of great note in our home is the first fresh local strawberries of the year. Every since reading Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma (yes, that book AGAIN, for my regular readers....what can I say, it changed my life), I no longer buy fresh strawberries except locally during our relatively short growing season in North Carolina (read the book to find out why). But I seriously love strawberries, so it is a big deal when they return to our diet, albiet for only a few, short, precious weeks. So only buying local strawberries in season has really raised my appreciation for this wonderful fruit that is gone all too soon.
But this year, for the first time since I've been shopping at the Farmers' Market, Market Opening Day and First Strawberry Day coincided! Apparently the mild winter has coaxed the local strawberries into blooming early. So, joy of joy, I bought a mess of them, and they will be part of our Easter celebration at our spiritual center (we are having an egg hunt for the children, but the eggs will contain fruit instead of candy) and our Easter dinner table. But I have already welcomed the strawberries by opening a bottle of champagne with a friend and drinking the sparkling wine with our first strawberries in the glass as well.
So pick what inspires you--your religious or spiritual tradition, Nature's beauty, the longer days, the warmer weather, or the return of the seasonal crops. Spring is great time to be thankful for all the wonderful things that this planet continues to provide us, despite our often not-too-great stewardship of its resources.
I'll end with a lovely video on Nature and gratitude that my friend Lorna shared with me. I hope you find it as inspiring as I did.
Enjoy!
Showing posts with label gratitude. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gratitude. Show all posts
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Friday, December 30, 2011
Christmas 2011 Blog: Writing Thank You Notes
Writing thank you notes after Christmas was one of those things that my mother forced me to do, and I hated it.
And now I'm so thankful that she did, because it is a habit that she ingrained in me, and that I, in turn, am trying to ingrain upon my son. I try to get our thank you notes completed and mailed before New Years Eve, and I believe that we've done it this year!
This year I am also doing something new. While my son draws original pictures for each card, I have copied one of his drawings, called Deep Sea Hats, and used that on the front of my thank you cards:
As much as I love Christmas, I think it is equally important to emphasize the appreciation aspect afterwards. Several years ago, I read a shocking statistic about how few chilren send Santa thank you cards compared to their letters requesting presents. I wasn't able to find any statistics, but the ones I remember (but could be wrong), was that one town in Alaska that responds to North Pole letters receives 120,000 letter before Christmas asking for presents, but only 4,000 letter after Christmas thanking Santa for the gifts received.
So while the exact numbers may be off, I don't think the scale is. The point of the article was that only a handful of children write to thank Santa compared to the numbers who write asking for presents.
Every family has to create their own expectations and traditions around this kind of thing. But I try, even after the exhaustion typically engendered by the holiday activities and frivolities, to emphasis that gratitude for what we've received is as important as the excitement over what we are expecting.
And, yes, to me, it deserves a written note, not just a verbal thanks or a phone call or even an email. But I'm old fashioned like that...
Of course, I include it as one of our homeschooling activities for that day.
And now I'm so thankful that she did, because it is a habit that she ingrained in me, and that I, in turn, am trying to ingrain upon my son. I try to get our thank you notes completed and mailed before New Years Eve, and I believe that we've done it this year!
This year I am also doing something new. While my son draws original pictures for each card, I have copied one of his drawings, called Deep Sea Hats, and used that on the front of my thank you cards:
As much as I love Christmas, I think it is equally important to emphasize the appreciation aspect afterwards. Several years ago, I read a shocking statistic about how few chilren send Santa thank you cards compared to their letters requesting presents. I wasn't able to find any statistics, but the ones I remember (but could be wrong), was that one town in Alaska that responds to North Pole letters receives 120,000 letter before Christmas asking for presents, but only 4,000 letter after Christmas thanking Santa for the gifts received.
So while the exact numbers may be off, I don't think the scale is. The point of the article was that only a handful of children write to thank Santa compared to the numbers who write asking for presents.
Every family has to create their own expectations and traditions around this kind of thing. But I try, even after the exhaustion typically engendered by the holiday activities and frivolities, to emphasis that gratitude for what we've received is as important as the excitement over what we are expecting.
And, yes, to me, it deserves a written note, not just a verbal thanks or a phone call or even an email. But I'm old fashioned like that...
Of course, I include it as one of our homeschooling activities for that day.
Friday, November 4, 2011
A Wonderous Gift to Libraries
Now that my son and I are doing NaNoWriMo, we've got books on the brain. But even without that focus this month, we've always loved books and reading. We've also always loved libraries, and are fortunate enough to live within walking distance of one, and are involved in classes and programs at some other ones on a regular basis. So that means we're visiting one library or another about every other day or so.
We've always tried to support our local library, not only by our presence and our expressions of gratitude to the staff, but by giving them cards and treats on holidays or occasions like National Library Week. But I found one library supporter who has put our puny attempts to thank our librarians to shame!
For the past eight months, someone has been creating some incredible paper sculptures out of books and secretly leaving them in various libraries around Edinburgh, Scotland. Along with the gorgeous art work, the perpetrator is leaving a small tag in support of the importance of libraries.
Your imagination is probably not doing these sculptures justice. So I will post one of my favorite ones, just to show you how fantastic these things are:
(yes, the dragon is made out of paper from a book)
The tag in the shell on the lower left reads:
To read the entire saga and see all the contributions to date, visit this blogsite.
I think this is just such a beautiful project, so I wanted people to know about it and to appreciate the incredible artwork of this mysterious benefactor of libraries. Especially at a time when things seem so challenging, sometimes art, especially when wrapped up in a whimsical mystery, can lift our spirits better than anything. But it also gives me an idea about doing something like that for our own libraries, albeit on a MUCH smaller scale. We may not be able to create art like that, but the holiday season is coming up.... perhaps we can hide notes of gratitude in honor of Thanksgiving? Or be secret Santas for our librarians? Or what if we hid notes of love for libraries in advance of Valentines Day?
Hmmm....I'll have to give that some more thought....once I get my daily 1,667 words done for NaNoWriMo!
We've always tried to support our local library, not only by our presence and our expressions of gratitude to the staff, but by giving them cards and treats on holidays or occasions like National Library Week. But I found one library supporter who has put our puny attempts to thank our librarians to shame!
For the past eight months, someone has been creating some incredible paper sculptures out of books and secretly leaving them in various libraries around Edinburgh, Scotland. Along with the gorgeous art work, the perpetrator is leaving a small tag in support of the importance of libraries.
Your imagination is probably not doing these sculptures justice. So I will post one of my favorite ones, just to show you how fantastic these things are:
 |
| photo from The Scotsman |
(yes, the dragon is made out of paper from a book)
The tag in the shell on the lower left reads:
For @scotstorycenter - A gift in support of libraries, books, works, ideas..... Once upon a time there was a book and in the book was a nest and in the nest was an egg and in the egg was a dragon and in the dragon was a story.....
To read the entire saga and see all the contributions to date, visit this blogsite.
I think this is just such a beautiful project, so I wanted people to know about it and to appreciate the incredible artwork of this mysterious benefactor of libraries. Especially at a time when things seem so challenging, sometimes art, especially when wrapped up in a whimsical mystery, can lift our spirits better than anything. But it also gives me an idea about doing something like that for our own libraries, albeit on a MUCH smaller scale. We may not be able to create art like that, but the holiday season is coming up.... perhaps we can hide notes of gratitude in honor of Thanksgiving? Or be secret Santas for our librarians? Or what if we hid notes of love for libraries in advance of Valentines Day?
Hmmm....I'll have to give that some more thought....once I get my daily 1,667 words done for NaNoWriMo!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
'Tis the Season to be Grateful that We Don't Live in Juarez
In 2007, when Bill Gates (Harvard's most famous drop-out) was receiving an honorary degree from his could-have-been alma mater and giving the graduation speech, the beginning of his talk addressed his failure to graduate with the stereotypical break-up line: It's not you, it's me. But then he segued into an issue with his Harvard education, although he still presented it as a personal failing. His great admission was:
But taking a serious look back...I do have one big regret.
I left Harvard with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the world - the appalling disparities of health, and wealth, and opportunity that condemn millions of people to lives of despair.
I think that problem is true for most of us who were born in the United States. Even the most progressive among us can't imagine how good we've really got it unless we've spent some time in some of the other countries that are less privileged.
This was brought home to me again today with an article in today's local newspaper about the school systems in Juarez, Mexico. It seems that gangsters are now targeting school teachers for extortion, because the teachers get a Christmas bonus of up to a month's salary (which, down there, apparently average about $650--and this is for the month). The mobsters are not only threatening the safety of the teachers; they are also threatening violence towards the children they teach. And their threats have not been all talk. Last week, they torched a preschool, which, while it seems injuries were avoided, left the administration offices in ruin.
I know I can be rough on my local school system (although I try not to be rough on the teachers, most of whom I think are doing a hero's job under difficult and demanding circumstances). But I know that, every now and then, I need a wake-up call about how good we've got things. I may not like the emphasis on testing, I may not like school board policies, I may not agree with curriculum approaches. But thank goodness that we can send our children to school without thinking they might be targets for criminals who want to shake down teachers, of all people, for their Christmas bonuses.
But taking a serious look back...I do have one big regret.
I left Harvard with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the world - the appalling disparities of health, and wealth, and opportunity that condemn millions of people to lives of despair.
I think that problem is true for most of us who were born in the United States. Even the most progressive among us can't imagine how good we've really got it unless we've spent some time in some of the other countries that are less privileged.
This was brought home to me again today with an article in today's local newspaper about the school systems in Juarez, Mexico. It seems that gangsters are now targeting school teachers for extortion, because the teachers get a Christmas bonus of up to a month's salary (which, down there, apparently average about $650--and this is for the month). The mobsters are not only threatening the safety of the teachers; they are also threatening violence towards the children they teach. And their threats have not been all talk. Last week, they torched a preschool, which, while it seems injuries were avoided, left the administration offices in ruin.
I know I can be rough on my local school system (although I try not to be rough on the teachers, most of whom I think are doing a hero's job under difficult and demanding circumstances). But I know that, every now and then, I need a wake-up call about how good we've got things. I may not like the emphasis on testing, I may not like school board policies, I may not agree with curriculum approaches. But thank goodness that we can send our children to school without thinking they might be targets for criminals who want to shake down teachers, of all people, for their Christmas bonuses.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Giving Thanks
I've been doing this blog for almost three months now, and one of the most fascinating things to me has been how I can be writing here in my little part of North Carolina, but be read by people all over the world. In the past three months, my blog has been accessed by hundreds of readers from every continent across the globe except Antarctica. For example, while my hits this past week have WAY predominantly come from the US, I've also had 8 contacts from Canada, 6 from Denmark, 5 from Singapore, and 2 each from the UK, Russia, and Kenya.
So for my non-US readers, let me explain that today is the holiday of Thanksgiving, the day when we gather with friends and families, cook a big turkey meal in honor of the first settlers who arrived here to find such a new and tasty wild bird on which to feast (although, with all the different diets people pursue here, there is more and more deviation from the "typical" Thanksgiving meal), and give thanks for our many blessings. And since I have so much to be thankful for, I thought I would share at least the ones that relate to the subject of this blog with you all, my virtual community.
Things I am thankful for this year include:
So for my non-US readers, let me explain that today is the holiday of Thanksgiving, the day when we gather with friends and families, cook a big turkey meal in honor of the first settlers who arrived here to find such a new and tasty wild bird on which to feast (although, with all the different diets people pursue here, there is more and more deviation from the "typical" Thanksgiving meal), and give thanks for our many blessings. And since I have so much to be thankful for, I thought I would share at least the ones that relate to the subject of this blog with you all, my virtual community.
Things I am thankful for this year include:
- that my circumstances allow me to homeschool my son, which I believe is the best educational experience for him and the most fun I can imagine for me;
- that North Carolina has such a hands-off policy regarding homeschooling, allowing us the freedom to design curriculum and programs that meet our specific needs;
- that this community is so supportive of homeschooling and has so many classes and activities geared to this population;
- that my homeschooling support group has so many diverse, interesting, intelligent, free-thinking, innovative, committed, and really caring parents who contribute so much to my son and to me as we pursue our homeschooling journey
- that my spiritual community not only supports me in my own continued development, but has entrusted me with the opportunity to create a new "rite of passage" world religion Sunday School curriculum for our middle school youth;
- and that despite it all--the political debates, the lack of resources, the troubling policy issues, the implied insult by politicians that outsiders can do a better job running things than professional educators, the relatively low salaries, the continued interference by bureaucrats and policy makers--that there are so many dedicated, professional, and wonderful school teachers who spend their days (and too often, nights) serving the majority of children in Wake County (and, really, throughout the world) who attend school. I had dinner Tuesday night with two of them, and even during a rare "Girls Night Out" on a long holiday weekend, they kept going back to talking about individual kids and things they could do to make their school experience better. With all the things school teachers have to deal with, I think their job is much tougher than mine, and my hat is off to them.
In short, it is my greatest joy and privilege that I get to be a mother to one and a teacher to several dozen other extraordinary young people, and I feel very blessed that this is how I get to spend this portion of my life.
Happy Thanksgiving to All!
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